Drinking Water Purification

No problem getting the pond clean in a day or two, although now you only have hours. Not enough time left for the easiest and best solution. You call a pond service and they come out and pond-vac your pond. They can install a new filter with a UV sterilizer, if as it sounds, the old filter and leaf skimmer is inadequate.

But it’s like the sign in the glass shop where I buy glass to make and repair aquariums.

"We do three types of jobs. Good, Fast. and Cheap. You can have any two. If it’s good and fast, it’s not cheap. If it’s good and cheap, it’s not fast."

What you can do tonight, even after dark, with very little equipment.

Old tennis shoes.
A two to five gallon bucket (with a sturdy handle) that is clean of chemicals.
Garden hose and jet spray nozzle.
Garden scissors or a sharp knife.
If you have it, pond netting, the kind used to fend off leaves in the fall and winter. No netting, substitute a leaf rake.

Put on the old shoes, put the netting spread out next to the pond. Set the garden hose with the spray attachment within reach. Set the bucket in the pond. Go in after it. Pick it up and fill it with pond water. Throw that water into the pond to stir things up. Repeat until there is everything really is stirred up, except of course avoid hitting any plants. or decorations. Scoop water out again but this time throw it onto the netting or if no netting out onto the grass. When the pond is only half full, stop. Take the knife or scissors and cut off any dead leaves or stems on the plants which are now half exposed. Toss all the dead plant material on top of the trash on the netting. Roll up the netting and set it out of sight somewhere. Or rake all the trash up and discard. Use the jet nozzle to clean up around the pond and clean off the bucket and tools and your legs and tennies, then use it to refill the pond. Setting it up a foot or so above the pond at an angle will aerate the water and agitate it instantly releasing most of the chlorine in city tap water. The rest of the chlorine will be quickly absorbed by the organic trash you didn’t completely clean up in this quickie fix. If your outside faucet water is a lot colder than the water in the pond, make a few trips inside with the bucket for hot water and add it slowly, away from plants and fish. You don’t need to match the original water temperature. Koi will be fine with a temperature drop, but some heat loving pond plants may show their displeasure in a few days to a week by slowing down or not setting as many flower buds if the temperature drop is drastic. Lotus is the one most vulnerable to temperature drops. It won’t really be hurt, just vengeful by not blooming as much for a while. Now go in and shower in hot water and soap. Play lots of attention to between your toes and fingers. If wild ducks have been visiting your pond frequently they might have left some leeches.They won’t really attach to you because you are not full of duck blood, but they will be crawling around looking for any good spots to drill for duck blood. Very improbable for this to happen, but knowing it is a distant possibility lets you prepare for it, so discovering one won’t freak you out.

I love cleaning my 2400 gallon pond this way once a year in the fall when the water is very cold. It’s a great work-out, that you won’t get with your puny pond. I always get carried away and end up scooping out all the water and putting the fish into aquariums for the winter. This time of year its’ only a few hundred gallons of water I can dump out and then trim plants and fertilize before topping off the pond. I have a Python drain/fill hose (same as a water bed drain/fill hose but for aquariums.) I hook it up the sink because it’s closest to the pond and that way I can adjust the water temperature exactly.

A sponge filter with the biggest power head you can find. I’d recommend 2-4 Hydro V Sponge filters stacked with a big power head. Hydros are stackable and can be run with air or power heads. Power heads make them much more efficient than when they’re air lift driven.
It may not get it crystal clear by Sunday, but you should see a significant difference within 24 hours.